Vance says he's ‘disgusted’ by GOP pushback to Ramaswamy ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother  —  Vice President JD Vance said during a campaign visit to Ohio on Wednesday that he is “disgusted” by the Republican pushback against an ad by Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother …

Democrats Have a Wide Lead in Our New Poll as Trump Slides  —  The map favors Republicans, but cracks in their base are leaving them vulnerable in defending House and Senate control.  —  The final New York Times/Siena University national poll of the 2026 midterm campaign finds Democrats leading nationally …

Russia Releases American Who Was Jailed for 4 Years, State Media Reports  —  The move buys good will with President Trump while costing the Russian leader, Vladimir V. Putin, little.  —  Russia on Wednesday released an American man who was held for four years on what the State Department …

US, allies warn of critical vulnerabilities in programming underlying 70% of the internet  —  The National Security Agency and cyber agencies in Europe, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere on Wednesday urged organizations to take their websites offline immediately after OpenAI tools found critical bugs …

In Six Decades of Public Life, I Never Thought I Would Write This Piece  —  The economy has been voters' top issue in four of the six midterm elections this century — and 2026 appears all but certain to make it five of seven.  Beyond the cost of living, the war in Iran and tariffs …

Scoop: Senate Republicans fear Mississippi is in play  —  Senate Republicans are weighing three last-ditch spending moves that would have been unimaginable six months ago: a cash infusion for Mississippi and even more money for South Carolina and Kansas. … But panic is spreading through the Republican Party.

U.S. troops and diplomats evacuating Middle East posts, sources say  —  The drawdowns are in response to ongoing threats in the region, sources say, and are taking place as President Trump weighs new military action in Iran.  —  DOHA — The U.S. military has quietly been scaling …

Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion for Deceiving Users on Privacy  —  The penalty, one of the largest levied against the tech giant, stemmed from a lawsuit by New Mexico claiming the social media company had misled users about their data privacy.  —  A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion …

Federal agents knock on doors to track down possible noncitizen voters ahead of midterms  —  Armed and in uniform, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security have been knocking on doors in several states to ask residents about their immigration status — and to inquire …

Brendan Carr takes up Trump's ‘fake polls’ fight  —  Brendan Carr warned broadcasters Wednesday to vet their polling carefully, suggesting his Federal Communications Commission could punish outlets for sharing results the administration believes deceive viewers.

Bush's brother crosses party lines to vote for James Talarico for Senate  —  Republican Neil Bush says he was ‘deeply troubled’ by Ken Paxton's conduct and ‘enormously impressed’ with Talarico  —  Neil Bush, a son of former president George HW Bush and a lifelong Republican …

Pentagon grants DHS permission to test heat ray weapon for potential use at border  —  Federal agencies US military Pete Hegseth National security  —  The Pentagon has given the Department of Homeland Security permission to test a military-grade heat ray and develop tactics to potentially use …

AIPAC retreats from candidate endorsements and direct giving as political backlash grows … The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, plans to stop endorsing candidates, making direct PAC contributions and earmarking contributions to candidates.

The Real Lessons of the French Riots  —  POLLS BEING WHAT THEY ARE, Republicans and their supporters must be feeling a bit like the condemned Frenchmen who rode to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.  It's fitting, then, that they are seizing on unrest in France as a desperate campaign gambit.

Israeli military conducts massive “power projection” operation near Iran's border  —  Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted a sortie on Monday, flying as far as the Iranian border, according to Israeli and U.S. officials. … The sortie wasn't connected to Hegseth's visit.

Big Win for Federal Workers: Federal Court Rules OPM Broke the Law by Handing DOGE Access to Sensitive Data  —  U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rules OPM unlawfully disclosed records belonging to tens of millions of current, former, and prospective federal workers

The Trump Administration Wants More Tax Charges.  It's Going to Be Tough.  —  The Justice Department has told its overworked fraud prosecutors to look for tax charges wherever they can, but law enforcement is already straining  —  The Trump administration wants to bulk up its antifraud push …

Electronic Arts to Shed 400 Jobs, Shut Down BioWare to Cut Costs  —  The next ‘Mass Effect’ will be canceled as part of the layoffs  —  Electronic Arts Inc. said it will lay off staff and shut down BioWare, the long-running development studio behind roleplaying games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

Six Charged in Large Scale Marriage Fraud Ring  —  For Immediate Release  —  U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts  —  For over a decade, alleged leader earned millions, arranging sham marriages between illegal aliens and U.S. citizens in Massachusetts; defendant bragged about Massachusetts being a “sanctuary”

The Bill for Trumpism Comes Due  —  Budget promises made, budget promises broken  —  “BALANCED BUDGET!!!  DJT” Donald Trump posted that promise on February 7, 2025, the 18th day of his current presidential term.  During the 2024 campaign, he had promised even more: the elimination …

Minnesota's Democratic U.S. Senate Nominee Inflated Academic Record  —  Peggy Flanagan said she ‘graduated Phi Beta Kappa,’ but records raise questions about claim  —  Peggy Flanagan said she “graduated Phi Beta Kappa” while arguing a decade ago for legislation to encourage greater teacher diversity in Minnesota's public schools.

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Border Wall Construction  —  A lower court judge had halted the administration's plan to erect hundreds of miles of barriers in the Big Bend region of Texas.  —  The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow …

Americans who moved to Europe after Trump win now say they regret leaving  —  Liberal Americans who fled to Europe after President Trump's re-election shared how the grass is not always greener on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.  —  Wired Magazine released an article Thursday headlined “They Fled Trump's America.

Oregon school shooting survivor recounts being shot, pretending to be dead to survive  —  Becky Drury, the 54-year-old teacher wounded in the shooting at an Oregon elementary school last week, spoke out about her experience, saying the gunman shot her before she had “any chance to act.”

The House GOP's imminent decision on the Omar raid  —  House Republicans have publicly cheered on the Trump administration's investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar.  But underneath the posturing, the raid raises thorny nonpartisan questions about how aggressively Congress wants to defend itself from encroaching federal prosecutors.

Americans' opinion of the CDC hits record low  —  Americans' ratings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have fallen to a record low, according to a recent Gallup poll, driven by a plunge in Democrats' views of the agency.  —  Why it matters: The CDC has been at the center …